The Lord Is Kind And Merciful, Slow To Anger And Abounding In Kindness

Reading 1
Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28

The tent, which was called the meeting tent,
Moses used to pitch at some distance away, outside the camp.
Anyone who wished to consult the LORD
would go to this meeting tent outside the camp.
Whenever Moses went out to the tent, the people would all rise
and stand at the entrance of their own tents,
watching Moses until he entered the tent.

As Moses entered the tent, the column of cloud would come down
and stand at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses.
On seeing the column of cloud stand at the entrance of the tent,
all the people would rise and worship
at the entrance of their own tents.

The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face,
as one man speaks to another.
Moses would then return to the camp,
but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun,
would not move out of the tent.
Moses stood there with the LORD and proclaimed his name, “LORD.”

Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,
“The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,
continuing his kindness for a thousand generations,
and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin;
yet not declaring the guilty guiltless,
but punishing children and grandchildren
to the third and fourth generation for their fathers’ wickedness!”

Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O LORD,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people;
yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own.”

So Moses stayed there with the LORD for forty days and forty nights,
without eating any food or drinking any water,
and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant,
the ten commandments.


Gospel
Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.
The weeds are the children of the Evil One,
and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect out of his Kingdom
all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the Kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

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Do you know any stiff-necked people? The expression has many shades of meaning: haughty, arrogant, inflexible, quick to judge, lacking compassion, even cruel.

Moses saw his people, the children of Israel, as stiff-necked, ungrateful and stubborn. But still, he prayed the LORD to forgive them. The LORD’s response is a message for the people of every generation, of every nation, a message for Christians, Jews, Muslims, pagans, agnostics, and atheists. It is a marvelous description of the LORD’s attitude toward humanity in general, and toward each and every human person in particular:

“The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity,
continuing his kindness for a thousand generations,
and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin;
yet not declaring the guilty guiltless,
but punishing children and grandchildren
to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness!”

A few years ago, in a Catholic high school classroom, probably not very long after we had celebrated the Mass for Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, one of the students raised a question:

“Father, how can God say that he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and forgiving, if He punishes children and grandchildren to the third and four generations?” Martha’s question gave rise to a very animated discussion among these sophomores. Our conclusion: First: The Lord never refuses grace to his people, even if they persist in their wickedness. He will forgive us no matter how far we stray, or how long we stay away, if we are truly sorry. Next: If some folks willingly and willfully lead a life that is contrary to God’s will, and raise their family in that environment, then it is likely that the wickedness will persist for two, three, four and perhaps more generations. It is not that God punishes children and grandchildren directly for the sins of their ancestors. In the same passage, he has promised forgiveness to anyone who repents sincerely. But still, it is likely that the wickedness brought about by the sins of the ancestors will persist for many generations to come.

In today’s gospel, Jesus explains to his disciples the true meaning of the parables about sowing seed. It is the Son of Man (Jesus himself) who saws good seed in the field which is the world. The good seed are the children of God’s kingdom; the weeds are the stiff-necked people. It is not so much that they are hardened criminals, but rather that they are “hard of heart”. Sometimes the ground gets so choked off by weeds that we feel unable to respond. At such moments, we can be moved by the Holy Spirit to recognize that there are situations we are eager to see resolved but are the one who can resolve them. These situations are wonderful exercises in humility, and humility is truth, and truth is GOD.